Got a TWSBI Eco-T fountain pen as a Christmas gift. I've been using it last week and I'm still not a big fan of it. But I also can't seem to stop myself from using it. There's something fascinating about a fountain pen that makes me want to write with one.

I think my Zebra Sarasa Grand Gel Pen writes better. But I need more time with the TWSBI Eco-T fountain pen before I make a final judgement.

For my Zettelkasten in Obsidian, I decided to no longer keep links between my Daily Notes and my Permanent Notes. This is based off what I read in Ahrens' book saying to discard or archive Fleeting Notes. And that's pretty much what my Daily Notes are, a collection of Fleeting Notes.

I'm removing the links, but I'm still archiving them though. And that's because I use the Daily Notes to create my Weeknotes post. It also makes those notes searchable via Obsidian.

Ran into an interesting discussion on micro.blog last week about RSS Feeds vs Email Newsletters. Someone made a good point that non-techy people already know how to handle emails. But those same people most likely won't know what is, or how to use an RSS Feed reader. This is probably the best reason to offer email subscriptions, even if you're not into monetizing your blog.

A writing tip I found online is to write to a specific person. In my case, I should imagine that I'm writing directly to one of my kids.

Distractions stop you from achieving greatness.

Received a Fitbit Inspire 2 as a Christmas gift. Here are some quick notes on it compared to my old Fitbit Charge 2:

• It is so lightweight compared to the Charge 2. I sometimes totally forget that I'm wearing it.
• The battery life is so good. I've been using it for over a week now and I still have 57% battery left.

We had a quiet New Year's Day celebration with the family. It was Caleb's first New Year's Day celebration with us. He celebrated by walking around the house multiple times. Assisted walking of course. He can't walk by himself just yet.

Was trying to get sleep, but was getting annoyed at my kids who were playing on the bed.

One thing I learned from The Last Dance documentary is to always turn a negative into a positive. It is similar to the perspective change shared by James Clear. And that led me to this:

I am grateful that I have kids who bother me when I'm trying to sleep. It means I've been blessed with playful kids.

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Been playing MyTeam mode in NBA 2K21 lately. I'm finding that the Flip Push freelance set is great for a team with a good point guard like Chris Paul.

Michael Jordan on being true to yourself :

It's never gonna be enough for everybody. I know that, I realize that, cause everybody has a preconceived idea in terms of what they think I should do or what I shouldn't do. The way that I go about my life is that I set examples. And if it inspires you, great. You know, I will continue to do that. If it doesn’t, then maybe I’m not the person that you should be following.”

~ Michael Jordan, The Last Dance

Finished The Last Dance documentary last week. Wonderful documentary. A must watch for any basketball fan.

The Dallas Mavericks get blown out by the Charlotte Hornets after their huge win against the LA Clippers. Every time I watch them play, they lose. I'm cursed.

I also watched their game last night against a depleted Chicago Bulls lineup — and they lost as well. Arrrgh.

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To say that Mary is the Mother of God is to insist on the density of the claim that God truly became human. As Fulton J. Sheen commented, Mary is like the moon, for her light is always the reflection of a higher light.

A wonderful analogy from Fulton Sheen.

Catholic theology has drawn a further implication from Mary’s status as Mother of God—her role as Mother of the Church. If she is the one through whom Christ was born, and if the Church is indeed Christ’s Mystical Body, then she must be, in a very real sense, the Mother of the Church. She is the one through whom Jesus continues to be born in the hearts of those who believe. This is not to confuse her with the Savior, but it is to insist on her mission as mediator and intercessor.

~ Daily Gospel Reflection by Bishop Barron

Emphasis on “not to confuse her with the Savior, but it is to insist on her mission as mediator and intercessor”.

Catholics are known for not really reading the Bible that much. In yesterday's homily, Fr. Kevin Wilwert shared some good books (the Bible is a collection of books) to get started when reading the Bible for the first time.

• Psalms
• Gospel of Mark
• Letter to the Romans

I'll end this post with what is quickly becoming one of my favorite Bible passages:

Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

~ Matthew 11:28-30

The part where Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;” brings me back to my previous post. Like I said in that post, not all the problems of today need to be solved with something new. Sometimes, all we need to do is to look to the past to find the answers.

Tags: #Weeknotes #Basketball #Blogging #Fitbit #FountainPen #NBA2K21 #Spirituality #Writing #Zettelkasten

Initially I felt like I was missing something without my Fitbit on my wrist. After a day or so, this feeling went away and was replaced by a feeling of liberation.

• I no longer needed to worry about whether I forgot my Fitbit or not.
• My business casual outfits no longer looked out of sorts. I could wear an elegant looking traditional wrist watch on my left wrist and there won't be a fitness tracker on my other wrist to spoil the look.
• It was easier to put on jackets without the cuffs catching on my Fitbit.
• I no longer needed to remember to charge it every week.
• I no longer had to worry about the occasional itch/rash that would manifest because of wearing a Fitbit.

It wasn't all good results though.

• For one, I noticed that I became a lot more sedentary at the office. Without my Fitbit to prod me to take more steps, I would barely get up from my chair. The first week that I didn't have it, I didn't even take a walk at all. I usually take afternoon walks to increase my step count. I eventually realized this towards the end of the second week and started reminding myself to take walks, but still that proves that a fitness tracker like my Charge 2 actually influenced me to live a more active lifestyle.
• Second, there were a few instances where I felt slightly dizzy or had shortness of breath and was concerned that I couldn't check my heart rate, because I didn't have my Fitbit with me. I mean eventually it turned out fine, but I did miss having the ability to check my heart rate on demand.
• Third, since I try not to have my phone with me, especially at work, I miss the call/text notifications that I would get on my Fitbit. I could leave my phone inside my bag or in a drawer and still get notified that the wife texted or called me.

So what now?

As of last night, I started wearing my Charge 2 again before I went to bed. I wore it to the office today and I'll most likely keep wearing it until I find a better alternative for my new use case.

Specifically, when I'm at the office, I want to be able to use it to track my steps, but not have to wear it on my wrist. When I'm not at the office, I'm okay with wearing it on my wrist. I also still want it to be able to track my sleep and workouts, so I cannot replace it with a basic pedometer. I still want an activity tracker like a Fitbit that has a decent mobile app.

As of right now, the only possible solution to the scenario I gave above, is to buy a Fitbit Inspire and use it with the clip-on accessory when I'm at the office. Then when I get home, or if I'm out of the office, I can wear my Charge 2. I think that will work but I'll have to try it out first.

Lastly, you might remember me ranting about the news that Google bought Fitbit and that I don't want them to get my health data. I think I have a workaround for that. I can backup my existing health data and ask Fitbit to delete my account. Then I can create a new account using a pseudonym and use that with my Fitbit devices. Whether or not it will get to that, I still don't know, but I think it might be a good workaround nonetheless.

Tags: #ExperimentLog #ExperimentLogResults #Fitbit

I developed a bad case of eyestrain then, though I didn't know it yet. It became so bad that it would cause dizziness every once in awhile. Just moving my eyes from one monitor to another would sometimes trigger it. Just sitting down and looking at something would sometimes trigger it. It became so bad that I was worried that I had some sort of issue with my heart. So I bought a Fitbit with a heart rate monitor. The idea being that whenever I felt dizzy, I would check my heart rate to verify whether something was wrong with my heart, or if it was something else. I've worn my Fitbit everyday since then.

Last month I learned that Google has bought Fitbit. Needless to say, I am not happy about that bit of news at all, especially now that I've grown a bit sensitive when it comes to the issue of data privacy. Even if Google says they won't make use of the health data that Fitbit has amassed, I don't know, I just don't trust that statement. Unfortunately I have yet to find a fitness tracker that can replace my old Fitbit Charge 2. So, I thought if I couldn't replace it, maybe I should just live life without it. This experiment then is about going a week, or maybe two weeks, without wearing my Fitbit.

As a compromise to myself, I am bringing my Fitbit along in my work bag, just in case I feel the need to check my heart rate. If so, I will put it on temporarily. I won't be wearing it for the majority of the day, not even when I exercise or go to sleep.

Update: Experiment Log – 004 Results

Tags: #ExperimentLog #Fitbit